The Accident
by chloe-writes
Summary: A friendly hunting trip goes awry as the Cullens are forced to deal with the consequences of one fatal mistake. Tensions will run high as the family's loyalty is repeatedly put to the test. Does condemning someone to life as a 'soulless monster' really count as saving? Or would she have just been better off dead, like all their other slip ups? Multiple POV's. Canon pairings.
1. Chapter 1: Blame

**Chapter 1: Blame**

The girl's body thrashed violently, rising and falling as though someone were prodding her in the back with a red hot iron. Her demonic screams travelled through the forest and scared away all the animals who took refuge in this normally quiet and tranquil place.

"Why aren't they back yet?" Emmett said through clenched teeth, hovering over the girl as he watched her suffer the excruciating effects of vampire venom. Even though it was decades ago, Emmett still remembered exactly how it had felt. He growled angrily in frustration, knowing that he and Jasper couldn't help her. There was almost nothing Emmett hated more than being rendered useless.

"Can't we just suck the venom out of her? Edward did it with Bella!"

Jasper, crouching several metres away, hiding behind a large redwood tree, answered him in a detached voice, "Just wait for Carlisle, Emmett. There's nothing we can do."

Emmett turned to glare at the tree concealing his brother's tall frame, "Jasper, stop playing hide and seek and come over here. I don't care what you think – you damn pessimist, there's gotta be something we can do. I can't just stand here watching while she screams her lungs out in pain. "

"How do you think _I_ feel? I was the one that lost control! I did this to her," Jasper argued, running out of the safety of his tree to stand before Emmett, "This pain – it's all because of me. It's all my fault, Emmett. I condemned her to this life. I –"

"Oh, would you shut up! Stop it with the brooding and feeling sorry for yourself Jasper, it's not going to change anything. God dammit – this family needs to learn to –"

A rustling of leaves and the snapping of branches off in the distance diverted Emmett's attention and he sped off in the direction of the noise; abandoning the conversation completely. He was eager to get to Carlisle so that he could hopefully help the poor human girl who was becoming less and less human as the minutes ticked on.

Jasper, however, did not move. He had witnessed many vampire transformations in his time and knew that once Carlisle arrived, the transformation would be too far along for any sort of intervention. Like he had tried to tell Emmett, there was nothing they could do now except to let the process continue; let the venom run through the human girl's body until there was no longer anything human about her. Then they will have created a newborn; a vicious, unruly, out-of-control killing machine. _And it will all be his fault, _Jasper thought in dismay, before the sound of whooshing air and crunching footsteps pulled him out of his thoughts and alerted him to Carlisle's arrival.

"Carlisle, what are we going to do about Bella!" Edward snarled as he came to a stop in front of the human girl, Emmett and Carlisle trailing behind him. Of course he was thinking about Bella, Jasper thought. Edward was – like always – worried about his love's safety and what having a newborn around would mean for his and Bella's relationship. One thing was for sure, Jasper thought, both Bella and this newborn could not be within ten miles of each other; one of them would have to go.

"Edward, we will discuss that later. We have more important issues on our hands," Carlisle replied calmly; always the soothing voice of reason, no matter the situation. Jasper decided to help Carlisle in calming Edward by releasing a peaceful, reassuring feeling into the area where Edward, Carlisle and Emmett now stood, hovering over the girl. But of course years of being around Jasper meant that his family was acutely aware of his gift and so Edward turned around and hissed at Jasper's attempts to calm him.

Jasper watched from a distance as Carlisle kneeled down next to the girl and examined the bite mark on her neck. Her eyes were squeezed shut tightly, and her fists were clenched, but she had stopped screaming now and only made the occasional groan or whimper. She was still experienceing the burning pain, however, and Jasper knew this better than anyone. Whilst Edward, Carlisle and Emmett could empathise with the girl by remembering their own transformations, only Jasper could actually feel her pain, and the knowledge that _he_ was the sole cause of it only made things harder on him.

Jasper watched as Edward turned and gave him a knowing glance, before walking slowly at a human pace over to where Jasper stood, lent up against a redwood tree. There was a moment of silence as the two brothers locked eyes. Jasper read Edward's emotions; irritation, apprehension and sympathy. "I won't let you blame yourself for this," Edward said sincerely and Jasper realised that Edward's feelings of sympathy and pity were not directed towards the human girl as he had assumed, but towards him. "Once I realised there was a bleeding human nearby we should have left the area. It's my fault, Jasper I –"

Before Jasper had a chance to object, Carlisle spoke up, and both Edward and Jasper turned their attention back on to the human girl. "It appears that the transformation process is too far along," Carlisle stated quietly, pausing briefly, "There is nothing I can do to stop it." Jasper merely nodded his head knowingly, as did Edward; this wasn't news to them.

"What do you mean? You can suck it out! Carlisle, I saw Edward do it with Bella," Emmett stated emphatically, but with no reply from Carlisle he moved on to Edward.

"Edward! You do it! Get the venom out like you did with Bella. C'mon!"

Emmett's demands were unanswered as Edward, like Carlisle remained un-moving, his lips fixed in a tight line.

"Aw hell, I should have just let Jasper kill her. Save us all this trouble," Emmett – with no response from anyone – eventually resigned and slumped on the ground; his head in his hands.

"It's not your fault, Emmett," Carlisle addressed his son, still un-moving as he watched the girl writhe in pain. He sighed dejectedly, "I just promised I'd never do this again – condemn someone to this life."

"You didn't condemn her Carlisle – I did," Jasper said, coming to stand next to Carlisle. He couldn't believe that Carlisle – like Edward – was blaming himself for this. Emmett was right; there were much too many self-deprecating brooders in this family.

"Jasper, you know no one blames you either," Carlisle said as he placed a hand on his son's shoulder. Jasper normally hated any kind of physical contact from anyone other than Alice, but right now he took comfort in the gesture. He knew Carlisle would never blame him, but still it did nothing to dissolve the deep guilt that was building up inside him.

"But Carlisle, what are we going to do about this. We can't have a newborn running around!" Edward suddenly demanded.

Carlisle sighed before answering him, "Edward, let's deal with the present situation first. We can worry about how we will deal with this afterwards. We need to identify this girl and find out why she was wondering the woods alone. Was she carrying anything when you saw her? Like a backpack or a purse?" Carlisle asked, glancing at his three sons.

"I think she had a phone," Emmett answered, "but when I was trying to pull Jasper off of her it flung away somewhere." Jasper cringed at Emmett's statement, remembering the animalistic fight he'd had with his brothers as they tried to stop him from killing the human girl.

He, Emmett and Edward were hunting way up north, near the Canadian border. All had been going fine until the smell of human blood reached them. Jasper had been coping so well lately with human blood, but something about this blood had been different. It smelt heavenly, like it was created just for him and begging him to come and consume it. The girl had been his singer – Jasper had realised later on – and he was completely powerless to the potent smell of her blood. His vampire instincts took over and before he knew it, his teeth had sunk into her neck.

The minutes after were a blur to Jasper. He could remember two sets of arms wrapped around him, pulling him away from the blood and how he'd fought ruthlessly against them; the only thing on his mind how desperately he'd wanted her blood. Somehow, Emmett had managed to pull Jasper off of the girl, but it had been too late; the transformation process had already taken effect.

They may have saved the girl from death, but they had now condemned her to an eternity as a vampire – in Edward's word's 'a soulless monster', and this was something that was causing Carlisle a great deal of angst. After Rosalie's resentment over her change, Carlisle vowed never to change someone without their consent again. Of course he'd broken this vow when he changed Emmett, but that was under extreme circumstances. Rosalie had been begging Carlisle to change Emmett and feeling guilty for the life he'd chosen for Rosalie he would do anything to make her happy; including changing another human being. But, that was the end of it, Carlisle had thought.

He didn't know what he was going to do now. There was no possible way that the newborn could live in harmony with them; now that Bella was a part of their lives. _But, could he really ask her to leave? _Carlisle knew that once the girl woke up from her transformation, he'd have to make some challenging decisions, but for now he took comfort in the fact that she still had about two days left, and that was plenty of time for the Cullen family to come to some kind of consensus. For now, he'd focus on finding out who this girl was and where she'd come from.

"Bingo!" Emmett boomed from a few metres away, and Carlisle almost jumped in shock. "I found her phone – I think it might be broken though," Emmett said, bounding over to where Carlisle was standing. Carlisle took a moment to marvel at Emmett's easy-going nature. He truly found pleasure in the littlest of things; such as competing against Edward to see who could find the girl's phone first.

Edward scowled at Emmett as he walked slowly behind him, "Carlisle, I think someone should go back and explain the situation to Esme, Alice and Rosalie," Edward said. Carlisle noticed that he didn't mention Bella's name, even though she was in fact staying the night at the Cullen house.

"And that someone your referring to is yourself, I'm guessing? Missing little Bella, huh Eddie?" Emmett joked before Carlisle had a chance to reply.

Edward growled, "Don't you dare tell Bella about any of this!"

"Wasn't plannin' on it," Emmett frowned, "lighten up, Edward. You too, Jasper!" He called out to Jasper who stood away from the group, deep in thought.

Before Edward or Jasper had a chance to say anything, Carlisle stepped in. He didn't want them arguing; it would only add to the numerous problems he had at the moment.

"Yes, Edward you can go home and tell them. But, please, try not to alarm them," Carlisle said thinking of his dear Esme and how she would react to the news. He then pondered briefly why Alice had not seen any of this in her visions. Surely, she would have seen Jasper attacking the girl and would have forewarned everyone, he thought.

"Her visions aren't infallible," Edward answered Carlisle's unspoken thoughts, before sprinting off in the direction of Forks. Carlisle watched him run until he eventually disappeared off in the distance. He sighed again – for what felt like the millionth time – and then directed his attention back on to the girl on the forest floor.

He hadn't really paid her much attention yet, being preoccupied with other problems, but right now he had a chance to give her a closer look. The girl was young, about fifteen or sixteen. Her long blonde hair was tangled and matted with the leaves and branches that lined the forest floor and a series of small cuts lined her forehead. She lay still, almost eerily so considering the amount of pain Carlisle knew she was in.

Carlisle suddenly realised that no one had actually spoken to the girl yet and immediately he felt awful; no one should have to suffer through the transformation process alone. Carlisle knew first-hand how horrible that was. Just as Carlisle began to rehearse what he might say to the girl, Emmett called out.

"I got her phone to work! Her name's… hang on… it's Sophie. Sophie Byrne."


	2. Chapter 2: Tension

**Thanks to everyone that reviewed/followed/favourited - I really appreciate it. I've been writing for a while but this is the first time I've ever uploaded anything, so feedback's really very encouraging. Anyway, I meant to point out earlier that this story is set around the end of New Moon, pre-Eclipse and while Bella will be a part of the story, she's not going to be the main focus. I'm going to try to keep this story fair and even to all the Cullens (including Bella), but yeah it won't be anywhere near as Bella-centric as the Twilight books are. Anyway, hope you enjoy the next chapter and any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

**Rosalie's POV**

I sighed as I sat down opposite Esme, grabbing yesterday's newspaper and skimming through the headlines. She had the television on mute and was watching some home improvement show, while Bella was curled up asleep on the leather sofa next to her.

"Have you heard from the boys?" I asked, wondering why they weren't home yet.

"No, they've probably gone all the way up to Canada. They should be back by tomorrow though," Alice spoke up from her place on the armchair as she riffled through her magazine.

"It's just that Emmett said they'd be back tonight."

"Well, I guess they're just taking an extended trip," Alice replied flippantly, engrossed in her magazine.

"Can't you see when they'll be back? Haven't you had any visions of them?" I asked, questioning Alice further.

"No, their futures are mostly blank. I'm only getting a few flashes of different things," Alice said nonchalantly, as if the fact that our husband's futures were blank was totally fine. Esme and I shared a worried look, but Alice was completely unfazed.

"Alice! Aren't you worried that you can't see them? What if something has happened to them," I said in alarm.

Alice sighed exasperatedly before finally placing her magazine down. "Look, I used to think that a blank future meant something bad, but after what happened with Bella and her cliff diving, I'm not going to make any assumptions anymore."

"Wait, you think the wolves are involved in this?" I asked, genuinely surprised.

"Maybe…" Alice trailed off, "It doesn't always have to mean that…"

"Then, _what_?" I demanded, frustrated by her vague responses.

"Rosalie," Esme chided, cutting in. I saw her glance over in concern at Bella, who had stirred momentarily, as the volume of my voice rose.

"Just calm down, okay? What could have possibly happened to them?" Alice snapped.

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Try as I might I couldn't think of a single thing that could possibly pose a threat to four male vampires – other than the Volturi, of course. But, I seriously doubted they'd be casually roaming around the forests of the Pacific Northwest. No, Alice was right; nothing had happened to them. But, of course I could never admit to being wrong, so I resorted to glaring at Alice instead and eventually sulked off upstairs to my room.

Since the room I shared with Emmett was in such a state – thanks to Emmett's innate inability to pick up after himself – I decided to pass the time cleaning. I had finally hung up the last of his shirts when the commotion outside diverted my attention – they were back.

I hurriedly ran over to the window, eagerly anticipating Emmett's arrival. He nearly always entered the house through our bedroom window; it was the quickest and most efficient way of getting to me as fast as possible, even though he did leave his muddy footprints all over the windowsill. But as I looked out into the dark forests that surrounded our house, I couldn't spot Emmett. Carlisle and Edward were there, I noted, as their running figures were vast approaching the house, but where were Emmett and Jasper?

I watched as Carlisle and Edward reached the house and then disappeared around the side. Why were they going in via the backdoor? Nobody ever came in that way. I quickly ran downstairs and around to the back of the house, just as Carlisle and Edward burst through the door, nearly toppling over Esme and Alice who were stood waiting for them.

"Where's Bella?" Edward spurted out, ignoring Esme, Alice and I. _Well, hello to you too, Edward._ As I scanned him up and down I noticed that his clothes were covered in dirt and his hair was even messier than usual, blown in all directions by the wind. It was so strange to see Edward looking so dishevelled; Carlisle too, even his pants were stained with mud. This was a look I expected from Emmett, not prim and proper Edward and Carlisle.

Before anyone had a chance to answer Edward, or say anything for that matter, Edward had already sped off in Bella's direction, calling out behind him, "I'm taking Bella home."

"Perhaps you want to shower first?" I teased, knowing full well that he'd hear me. However, as soon as I'd spoken I immediately regretted it, as I took a closer look at Carlisle. He was hiding it well, but the stress and apprehension I saw in his eyes was undeniable. It didn't seem right on the usually so calm and collected Carlisle.

Esme noticed it too, as her eyes were locked on Carlisle, her hand clasping his as we waited for an explanation from him. I for one was becoming impatient; what could he possibly be so worried about?

With a sombre glance towards Esme, Carlisle finally spoke up, "There's been an accident." He paused, taking in a long breath before continuing, his eyes still boring into Esme's, "We were all hunting close to the Canadian border and had decided to split up. Edward and I went east, and Emmett and Jasper went far west. Once Edward had fed he suggested he'd go find Emmett and Jasper, whilst I continued hunting east."

"He was gone about twenty minutes, and when he returned to me – alone – he was distraught. He told me to follow him as quickly as possible and on the way over to Emmett and Jasper, he told me what had happened."

"Oh, Jazz," Alice suddenly murmured, "he slipped up again didn't he?"

"Not quite," Carlisle replied quietly, and Esme, Alice and I all glanced at each other in confusion. _Not quite? _What the hell did that mean? I was becoming increasingly annoyed at Carlisle; why couldn't he just spit it out already? Why was he drawing out the story so much?

"Jasper did attack a human, but Emmett and Edward were able to pull him off her," Carlisle paused, "Unfortunately though, they were moments too late. Jasper didn't kill the human girl, but he did bite her and now –"

"Carlisle!" A loud booming voice – belonging to Emmett, of course – bellowed from outside, stopping Carlisle just short of finishing his story.

"She's a vampire," I mumbled to myself, finishing off Carlisle's story for him, as I followed everyone out the back door. Great, more drama – just what we needed.

The scene I was presented with outside would have been comical had the circumstances been different. Jasper and Emmett were carrying a small girl between them; Jasper held her legs and Emmett was supporting her shoulders. The girl was wriggling and flaying her limbs all over the place, and though she was small she seemed to be making it extremely difficult for Emmett and Jasper to keep a hold of her. This of course caused the frustrated Emmett to scream out every curse word he knew – and Emmett knew a _lot_ of curse words.

"For fucks sake! Would you please stop moving!" Emmett screamed into the girl's ear. I didn't think I'd never seen Emmett so frustrated before.

"Emmett, please. Let's just concentrate on getting her inside," Carlisle reprimanded as he rushed over to help guide the girl inside.

"Esme, Alice – can you set up the room in my office? Clear everything out of the way and bring in the operating table," he said swiftly, at vampire speed. Carlisle had his own operating table here, at home? That was news to me.

"Rosalie, can you hold the door open?" I nodded at Carlisle and then hurried over to the back door and wedged a book under it, so that it would stay in place, before running over to help the boys. I tried to stay as calm as possible, and was proud of myself for not lashing out, despite being wacked in the face a few times by the girl's unruly limbs, and being shouted at by Emmett and Jasper who had clearly had enough of this girl.

Finally, we got the girl inside and into Carlisle's office, which Esme and Alice had quickly rearranged so that it looked less like an office and more like a hospital room, with an enormous steel operating table in the centre. We placed her down as gently as possible and then all took a big step back, forming a circle around her as we watched the young girl.

Once on the table and free from the constraints of our arms, she immediately relaxed and stopped her wild movements. She became almost limp and didn't make a sound. None of us did either. I don't think anyone knew what to say. I felt sorry for this innocent girl but at the same time I was angry – angry because I knew we were going to have to make some difficult decisions. Things around here were going to change.

I don't think our family had ever stayed so silent for so long. We must have looked like statues, just standing here not moving, all eyes fixed on the girl in front of us that we had unwillingly condemned to this life. She seemed so innocent – this girl – so young and childlike. It took me a few moments to realise that pretty soon this girl would be anything but innocent, she'd be a newborn vampire. Would we even be able to control her? What if she didn't agree with our vegetarian lifestyle?

It was Esme who eventually spoke up, breaking the deadly silence and tension that surrounded us. "Do you know what her name is?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"Sophie," Emmett said, his eyes not leaving the girl. It was so odd to see Emmett be so still, part of me wanted to reach out and touch him, but I was frozen in place by her – Sophie. Seeing her here reminded me of my own painful transformation, how the fire had burned and scorched and how I'd wished and begged for death.

I watched as Esme walked very slowly and silently over to her. "Hello Sophie," she said in a soft and soothing tone, her hand reaching out hesitantly brush Sophie's blonde hair from her forehead. "My name is Esme. I know you must be very confused at the moment, but I want you to know that we're here to help you and we don't want to hurt you."

_No more than we already have, that is, _I thought, sighing heavily as I walked over to where Emmett stood with his arms crossed. Esme's words had seemed to thaw everyone else as well and soon we all began moving and talking again. Emmett quickly grabbed me in a tight hug and I felt such comfort in his strong arms and familiar smell – oh, I had missed him so much. As I pulled away from him I noticed that he – like Carlisle and Edward – was covered in dirt, and now that we had embraced so was I.

I frowned at him and gestured towards the dirt that had rubbed off on my dress. Emmett merely laughed and wrapping an arm around me, said "C'mon, let's go shower." He then lead me upstairs away from Sophie and the rest of the family. I wanted nothing more than to run away somewhere with him, but I knew that as much I desperately wanted to, we couldn't do that. I wouldn't disappoint the family again.

* * *

**Just a note, the last line was a little vague/ambiguous but when Rosalie says she won't disappoint the family again she's referring to the end of New Moon (ie. calling Edward to tell him Bella's dead and how everyone blamed her etc. you know what I'm taking about) **


End file.
